Home invasion charges held for court
The majority of charges against a Uniontown man accused of holding several people at gunpoint and robbing them at their home Aug. 5 were held for court Tuesday. Uniontown police Officer Michael C. Garrow Sr. said Tobias Mitchell, 26, was charged before Magisterial District Judge Wendy D. Dennis with robbery, burglary, theft and three counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person.
Following a preliminary hearing Tuesday before Senior Magisterial District Judge Michael Rubish, single counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person were dismissed and all other charges were held for court.
According to Garrow, the incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. when police were called to 94 Millview St. for a reported armed robbery in progress.
Garrow said when police arrived they found the house empty and the alleged victims at a neighbor’s house on Lenox Street.
Garrow said that according to accounts by Kaelin Bubonovich of Oliver and Brandi Hill of Uniontown, Mitchell broke through the front door of their residence on Millview Street and held them at gunpoint.
“He just kept waving the gun and asking for money,” Bubonovich testified Tuesday. “He held the gun to my boyfriend’s head.”
Garrow said another man who held a shirt over his face accompanied Mitchell into the home, and Mitchell then threatened to shoot them if they did not give him money.
Garrow said the residents handed Mitchell $450 and he then allegedly went into another room and stole a 5-week-old puppy before fleeing.
Both Bubonovich and Hill testified that they knew Mitchell prior to the incident and identified him as the suspect.
Garrow told Fayette County Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. that officers canvassed the area and checked at Mitchell’s residence but were unable to locate him.
Garrow testified that officers secured an arrest warrant from Dennis and tried to find Mitchell at his residence on North Gallatin Avenue around 9 a.m.
Garrow testified that Mitchell surrendered to police. He testified that he did not find money inside the home but did find the stolen puppy under a laundry basket in a closet.
Mitchell remains in the Fayette County Prison on $25,000 bond.